Help picking software. Please

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Crystalclearimages

Senior Member
New at this and am having a hard time on what software to get first. Short on money, but don't know whether Aperture, Lightroom, Elements, or the full Photoshop. Help. Thanks
 
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pedroj

Senior Member
Hi if you don't have a lot of money Elements could be for you...Apparently it does a very good job for what it costs...
 
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Somersetscott

Senior Member
I guess the other question is - what would you like your software to do?

I use lightroom 4 for straight out of the camera images (Raw), reviewing them then taking the best on to develop them (simple touching up, exposure, contrast, saturation, vibrancy and a sharpen.)
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Takes a bit of getting used to the 'workflow'. Plenty of youtube videos on how to.

I've salvaged many photos with light room 4 - Majorly under exposed shots coming out as vibrant masterpieces. Awesome for landscapes

Ah reminds me of my pet hate - Youtube videos that waffle for 20mins to tell you one spec of information :mad:

Hope this helps
 
Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
Try using this - GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program its free and is similar to Photoshop.

Not my photo but it gives you an idea of what it is.

gimp.png
 
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Fred Kingston_RIP

Fred Kingston_RIP

Senior Member
Crystalclearimages said:
New at this and am having a hard time on what soft ware to get first short on money. But don't know weather aperture, light room, or elements. Or the full photoshop. Help. Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm not a fan of Elements from a photog's perspective and use Lightroom almost exclusively, but Elements is the least expensive of the Adobe products... From a learning perspective, I think the availability of video tutorials (both paid, and free) targeted towards photogs is much greater with the Adobe products than the free Gimps of the universe...

Balance Free with your ability to learn how to use something... Learning your camera's options and how to take/see good pictures is a big task without spending a ton of time trying to learn a computer program...
 
Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
FredKingston said:
I'm not a fan of Elements from a photog's perspective and use Lightroom almost exclusively, but Elements is the least expensive of the Adobe products... From a learning perspective, I think the availability of video tutorials (both paid, and free) targeted towards photogs is much greater with the Adobe products than the free Gimps of the universe...

Balance Free with your ability to learn how to use something... Learning your camera's options and how to take/see good pictures is a big task without spending a ton of time trying to learn a computer program...
Click to expand...

Here is a page dedicated to tutorials ;) - GIMP - Tutorials
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
I have lightroom and photoshop. I could live without photoshop but not Lightroom especially version 5. I would say the same about elements as photoshop.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I don't mean to throw a wrench in the works but Corel Paintshop Pro costs a fraction of what you'd pay for an Adobe product and consistently ranks as one of the best photo editors on the market. It's worth looking into and I'm pretty sure all of these applications have 30-day trial versions you can download for free. I'd certainly take advantage of that before plunking down any money.

Digital Camera Review compares Core Paintshop Pro vs. Adobe Photoshop
 
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JDFlood

Senior Member
I use Lightroom occasionally use Photoshop. LR is great, it is the mainstream paid for product. Since you are committing to a storage system, you don't want to hop around, as there is a lot of work you will loose. I would recommend trying the freeware and seeing if you are comfortable using it and that it will be around in five or ten years. If you have doubts, then go with Lightroom. It is very powerful and is the best bet to be around in ten years or more. Also, if a rival somehow materializes, it will need to read LR catalogs, so you will not need to worry about losing everything. JD
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
JDFlood said:
I use Lightroom occasionally use Photoshop. LR is great, it is the mainstream paid for product. Since you are committing to a storage system, you don't want to hop around, as there is a lot of work you will loose. I would recommend trying the freeware and seeing if you are comfortable using it and that it will be around in five or ten years. If you have doubts, then go with Lightroom. It is very powerful and is the best bet to be around in ten years or more. Also, if a rival somehow materializes, it will need to read LR catalogs, so you will not need to worry about losing everything. JD
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That sounds like a workflow issue, not a problem with what editor you're using.
 
J

JDFlood

Senior Member
Horoscope Fish said:
That sounds like a workflow issue, not a problem with what editor you're using.
Click to expand...

Well, I wasn't trying to get into it too deep since it gets complex quickly... like what parts are you using, RAW vs JPG... etc. But generally there are two parts, the database and the editor / settings. With Lightroom you get both. If you choose an alternative it may have one or both. If it is only an editor, and you collect 10,000 photos, each which have been tweeked and if you switched to a new editor, depending on what you did, like switching to LR, you would loose the setting that you used to adjust them. However, of course, you could have created output from the editor and don't care. But I would think most people would want them. I go back and readjust, so I want them all to have the setting that I used to adjust the raw file, not just the output. So, I would be starting all over again. If a new render engine is developed, I'd like to apply it to all my old photos... with original adjustments. Etc. I have learned dozens and dozens of software packages, and for me, I try to make the right decision up front, because I have suffered the consequences of going cheap, or non-main stream so manytimes. Now, everyone is not me and cost is an issue, so that is why I recommended the poster try some freeware first keeping in mind the future. JD
 
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riverside

Senior Member
Horoscope Fish said:
I don't mean to throw a wrench in the works but Corel Paintshop Pro costs a fraction of what you'd pay for an Adobe product and consistently ranks as one of the best photo editors on the market. It's worth looking into and I'm pretty sure all of these applications have 30-day trial versions you can download for free. I'd certainly take advantage of that before plunking down any money.

Digital Camera Review compares Core Paintshop Pro vs. Adobe Photoshop
Click to expand...

I've used Paintshop Pro for years. Had Adobe for a long time but the price and eventual non-existent customer service finally pissed me off. Apple fans have no (paid for) choice other than Adobe.

For some history, during the late 80s and early-mid 90s Apple owned the graphics design workstation industry. As digital imaging came into its own it was a natural step forward for Adobe. Once Windows started using virtual memory and virtual device drivers hardware cost consideration literally decimated Apple's hold on the graphics industry. Anyone in business who has priced Apple and Windows workstations (both have had identical internal hardware for some time) can understand why.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
riverside said:
I've used Paintshop Pro for years. Had Adobe for a long time but the price and eventual non-existent customer service finally pissed me off. Apple fans have no (paid for) choice other than Adobe.
Click to expand...
If Paintshop shows decent support for the D7100 RAW codec, and considering the price, I may just get a copy now and start learning it. Adobe signed their own "death warrant" with me with their Creative Cloud announcement.




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